May 29, 2012
Would you like to select Prime instant videos to watch later? Use Watchlist from any Kindle Fire, Xbox, Roku, PC or Mac.

July 17, 2011Prime Instant Videos provide unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows at no additional cost with a paid annual Amazon Prime membership, which also includes fast shipping along with other benefits. Prime instant videos can be watched instantly on a Mac, PC and nearly 200 models of Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top-boxes that are compatible with Amazon Instant Video . All of the movies and TV shows are commercial-free and some are available in HD. You can try an Amazon Prime membership by starting a free trial (restrictions apply).

What are some of the programming differences between Amazon Prime Videos, Netflix and Hulu Plus? Amazon has some previously unavailable Doctor Who, for one thing. Internet video guide Clicker takes a look at the services and offers a detailed chart (below) comparing Amazon's streaming video perk for Prime subscribers with Netflix, Hulu Plus and on-demand services iTunes, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu. Also worth a read, Rex Hammock's consumer take on Amazon's free Trojan Horse.Attachment 218853
Update: A couple of good points have been raised about the chart: Amazon lists Android under mobile but hasn't announced anything, and, as Dan Rayburn notes in the comments, Amazon's HD is 480 720, while Netflix is 1080.
Update 2: The chart has been updated to reflect those issues. Clicker's Guillermo Pont explains it in the comments.
Correction: Hulu says Hulu Plus actually has more than 16,000 episodes of TV shows, and 775 movies. (It will be adding about 650 more movies from the Criterion Collection in coming months.) And now the chart has been updated to reflect that. [2/25/2011]http://paidcontent.org/article/419-c...lix-hulu-plus/

January 30, 2011 8:36 AM PST
Rumors have been heating up over the last few weeks that Amazon was on the verge of offering "free," unlimited video streaming to its Prime members, who pay $79.99 a year for free two-day shipping on many items sold on Amazon. Now a tipster has sent a few screenshots to Engadget allegedly showing an unlimited video streaming section to complement Amazon's VOD (video-on-demand) offerings.

One small bit of info a lot of people don't know about is that Amazon allows Amazon Prime subscribers to share their subscriptions with up to three "family members." (See full article here). Whether Amazon would extend the "free" streaming service to those you share your membership with is unknown, but it would certainly be a nice perk. Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...#ixzz1CXR34tI9

TIP: If you want to quickly find where a TV show or movie is streaming - TVandMoviesNow.com will say where it is available to watch

Amazon.com appears to be readying a service that would make 5,000 movies and TV shows available to watch instantly -- for no extra charge -- to members of the online retailer's $79-per-year Prime free-shipping membership program.

The service would provide "unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows" with content similar to what is available through Netflix's streaming component, according to a report by consumer technology blog site Engadget. Amazon's service, though, would be limited to standard-definition video.

Amazon Prime is a membership program that provides free two-day shipping as well as one-day shipping for $3.99 per item on certain purchases.

Currently Amazon offers a selection of more than 75,000 movie and TV show rentals or purchases through PCs, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and connected-TV devices, including those from TiVo, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Vizio and Roku.

The instant-streaming service from Amazon would add to the growing amount of premium video content available online under a subscription plan.

Leading the pack is Netflix, which has experienced phenomenal growth over the last year, ending 2010 with just over 20 million subscribers. The company is trying to shift from predominantly shipping DVDs by mail to less-costly digital delivery over the Internet.

Meanwhile, Hulu, the Internet TV service jointly owned by NBCUniversal, Walt Disney Co. and News Corp., has been mulling a shift in strategy "recasting Hulu as an online cable operator that would use the Web to send live TV channels and video-on-demand content to subscribers," the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

The company already offers Hulu Plus, a $7.99-per-month plan that offers all episodes of several primetime shows' current seasons and library content, accessible through various devices.

Cable, satellite and telco TV providers have responded with "TV Everywhere" offerings, such as HBOGo.com, that provide online access to material ordinarily available only on TV through a set-top box.

For its part, Apple reportedly explored offering a $30-per-month subscription plan geared around current TV content more than a year ago but failed to land any deals.

I wonder whether trial Prime memberships or student memberships will get this? (If, of course, it actually happens ).

I've been an Amazon Prime member for 4 years--my 5th year begins on the 2nd. I buy so much stuff from them online that the $80/year works out to much less the $1 a package (for 2-day shipping) by the end of the year. It was a shrewd move on their part--I often search for the best price online for something and say, "Cool! This price is $12 less than on Amazon!" then "Oh, they want $15 to ship it..." . If they add video streaming on top of that it'll be gravy, just like Netflix Watch Instantly was, since I'd been a Netflix member since the year that they started. Now they just need to get players for it on TiVo, PS3 and the Xbox (they actually have a video download service on TiVo already). If they don't, it might give me an excuse to buy a Roku .

All signs point to Amazon.com launching a streaming service to compete with Netflix. However, its arrival may already be delayed.

Citing unnamed sources, The Los Angeles Times reported that Amazon initially wanted to launch its streaming service in early February. However, due to issues with getting the service up and running and the difficulty it is having acquiring content, the publication's sources say Amazon has pushed the launch back to as early as late February.

Reports of Amazon launching a streaming service have been surfacing for quite some time. Back in August, the company was said to be in negotiations with film and television studios to start bringing content to the as-yet announced service. Last month, it announced plans to acquire the remaining shares it didn't own of U.K.-based Netflix equivalent Lovefilm, prompting some to wonder when, not if, Amazon would bring a streaming service to the U.S.

The flames were stoked even more late last month when Engadget received some screenshots of what's believed to be the Amazon streaming service running. The screenshots indicate that the service has over 5,000 movies and television shows available, and Amazon Prime customers who pay $79 a year for free two-day shipping will be able to stream content from the service for free.

Assuming the screenshots are actually Amazon's streaming service, it's hard to say what shows or films make up the 5,000 pieces of content.

The Los Angeles Times' sources say Amazon is having trouble getting major film studios on board. The publication said that as of now, none of the major film studios have signed on to Amazon's service over concerns that such a deal might negatively impact physical disc sales. The studios are also unsure if Amazon will ante up the same cash Netflix has paid for content.

That won't help Amazon's chances of competing with Netflix, which has been able to bring all kinds of major studio content to its service. The company's offering has many modern movies, as well as classics, like The Godfather. Moreover, it has been able to bring its streaming service to several different devices, including the Apple TV and a slew of televisions, helping it see its subscriber base grow to over 20 million at the end of 2010.

I was messing around with my Sony BDP-S770 this weekend after streaming an episode of Battlestar Galactica from Netflix and I decided to check out Amazon VOD as I've read that Amazon might offer a monthly program to give its members Netflix-style unlimited streaming ... see article for more details: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20030003-1.html

I watched the Amazon VOD HD sample ("Superman Returns" trailer) and was blown away by the quality of the stream. It was definitely HD and easily as good as most Blu-rays. The audio was still PCM, although when I first connected to Amazon VOD a caption appeared on my screen that stated, "...your Sony device is compatible with DD 5.1...", so perhaps I need to adjust the settings on my Blu-ray player or Amazon plans to add 5.1 at a later date.

Overall I was very impressed with the PQ of Amazon VOD and can see Amazon taking business from Netflix if/when they offer an unlimited monthly streaming plan.

Yeah, I am excited if Amazon offers a buffet style plan as long as it's affordable, but in no way do I think it's going to be as cheap as Netflix. I picture it being at least $20-25/month, but somehow doubt they're going to be able to offer the new releases D&D as well....I don't think the studios will allow it at that pricepoint when they are really trying to push the 4.99-5.99 VOD model.

Still, in a hypothetical situation, if it is $20-25/month, and it has the new releases, I'll get it. Thankfully I have both a PS3 and XBOX, so I can get the best of most streaming techs (Netflix 1080p/5.1 and Vudu on the PS3, Zune and Amazon on the 360).

Heck, if Amazon is that cheap and has new releases, I'll keep the Netflix streaming but might just cancel getting discs altogether. I'm pretty happy with Netflix quality on the PS3, but I know that's the only device doing 1080p/5.1 at the moment (and only for select titles)

Hopefully we'll hear more about what Amazon is going to offer soon. I do hope they make it happen.

Hopefully we'll hear more about what Amazon is going to offer soon. I do hope they make it happen.

From everything I have read it will be included with Amazon Prime ($79 annually). So it should offer whatever they can license within that scope which appears to be the (temporary?) hold-up. Rumor was it was going live at the start of this month and now it's as early as mid/late month.

For that pricing I don't expect it to (strongly) compete with Netflix within an reasonable time frame. Netflix has such depth of titles that it will be hard to compete with out of the gate. Much like with Hulu Plus (they are supposed to reach 1 million subscribers this year).

I see them including a lot of the currently free pilot and first episodes (network stuff) like the recent Fairly Legal. Perhaps throw in one or two new/recent releases but mostly the traditionally worthless content they can't sell to anyone else.

For that pricing I don't expect it to (strongly) compete with Netflix within an reasonable time frame. Netflix has such depth of titles that it will be hard to compete with out of the gate. Much like with Hulu Plus (they are supposed to reach 1 million subscribers this year).

I see them including a lot of the currently free pilot and first episodes (network stuff) like the recent Fairly Legal. Perhaps throw in one or two new/recent releases but mostly the traditionally worthless content they can't sell to anyone else.

We'll see. Amazon has some 90K+ titles streaming now (according to this), more than 8 times as many as Netflix (11K and change, according to InstantWatcher). Almost all of that is available on a rent and/or buy basis, with an insignificant smattering of free titles, mostly TV pilots, etc. It will be interesting to see how much of that 75K+ they offer for no extra charge to Prime members. Will it be as much or more than 1/8th of their current library? Will the selection be attractive? Will any of it be HD?

If they come out with what you describe it'd just set them up for a ton of bad press. I'd think that they'd realize that.

We'll see. Amazon has some 90K+ titles streaming now (according to this), more than 8 times as many as Netflix (11K and change, according to InstantWatcher). Almost all of that is available on a rent and/or buy basis, with an insignificant smattering of free titles, mostly TV pilots, etc.

According to Amazon they have 15,459 titles available for rental. Of which many are free previews and or promos. Some titles are $6 alone and individual seasons of series $30 or so? Can you realistically expect them for free? Such that Amazon Prime's pricing wouldn't be increasing. How does one get bad press for giving away streaming?

If it was a service at $20-$30 per month I could see having expectations. To be included in Amazon Prime what do you guess their budget is per annual subscription for paying licensing fees? $10, $15, $20 per person? How many titles does that realistically get you?

In thisPR about their "Disc+ On Demand" (from early November), Amazon says:

Quote:

Amazon Video On Demand is a digital video service that offers customers more than 75,000 commercial-free movies and television shows to buy or rent. New release movies are often available as soon as they're out on DVD, and many TV shows are available the day after they broadcast. Amazon Video On Demand also offers thousands of titles in high definition.

When I click "Movies To Rent" on their site I see the following list heading:

Showing 1 - 24 of

27,775 Results
If I click "Movies to Own it gives me a grid of titles with this at the top:

Showing 1 - 24 of

31,092 Results
(They say that there are currently 141 free items). When I click "All Movie Genres" the heading on the list is:

Showing 1 - 24 of

34,616 Results
There's obviously a lot of overlap between things that you can rent and own and things that you only purchase (many of the very newest releases); note that the "all movie genres" count is about 7000 more titles than the "movies for rent" list. TV is a bit more difficult, since you can only purchase seasons and individual episodes (no TV rentals), click "All TV Genres" and you get the heading:

Showing 1 - 24 of

6,181 Results
Of which 204 are free. I suspect those big numbers count the individual TV episodes.

According to Amazon they have 15,459 titles available for rental. Of which many are free previews and or promos. Some titles are $6 alone and individual seasons of series $30 or so? Can you realistically expect them for free? Such that Amazon Prime's pricing wouldn't be increasing. How does one get bad press for giving away streaming?

Personally I think that I've disproved that small count of available titles, unless of course you can come up with something more definite than the lists of available titles from Amazon's VOD section.

Amazon's not giving away anything for free. That $80/year is as compared to Netflix' $10/month, aka $120/year. Now that does include no extra charge 2-day shipping for many items and reduced cost overnight shipping, but that price should attract quite a few people who, unlike me, don't do most of their shopping online (I visit Fry's and Best Buy only a couple of times a year and haven't been in any place like a Magnolia AV or Good Guys for probably 6 or 7 years). Amazon's been offering Prime membership since 2005; they must be making a profit from it, if not from the fee itself, then from increased sales due to cheap shipping. For at least a couple of years Amazon's actually giving away Prime membership through their free Amazon Mom and Amazon Student services.

Netflix only recently established streaming-only membership. Was Netflix giving their streaming service away for free before then? It's been there since early 2007. Amazon's bargaining position with the content providers, as a renter and seller of VOD titles and seller of discs, may be stronger than Netflix's. Who knows?

Also, what expectations did you hear me voice? My expectations are higher than yours--I think that the selection of content available at no extra charge to Amazon Prime members will be about on par with Netflix's offerings, with no new release titles and very few recent release ones.

Whatever--we're creating an off-topic rathole in this thread and there's really no sense arguing this. Soon enough we should know for sure .

Personally I think that I've disproved that small count of available titles, unless of course you can come up with something more definite than the lists of available titles from Amazon's VOD section.

Sorry, but you haven't disproved anything. Amazon clearly states 15k available (at this time). If you would like to disprove their number feel free to count them. I think you'll find the higher number includes items no longer available much like their product listings. Like title #114.

Quote:

Amazon's not giving away anything for free.

Sure they are (if the plan goes according to rumor). Right now Prime is $79 a year. After adding streaming it's $79 a year. That's free (to all existing prime subscribers). My guess is giving streaming to the prime subscribers does two things. It gives them a base to start with and allows to them to offer worthless content - since it's a freebie.

Quote:

Amazon's bargaining position with the content providers, as a renter and seller of VOD titles and seller of discs, may be stronger than Netflix's. Who knows?

Sorry, but you haven't disproved anything. Amazon clearly states 15k available (at this time).

You still haven't provided any source for that claim. You gave me a link to a page about some particular title (with a ridiculous price that has to be a mistake) which does not contain the character sequence "15" on it anywhere. I've shown you where Amazon has said that they have 75K titles in a PR, which their shareholders could sue them for lying in; I've shown you where they say 34K+ movies and 6K+ television titles; show me someplace where they've said your number and then we'll decide which one we should believe. Interesting that you had to look at 114 of them before you found one no longer available. Stuff becomes unavailable from all of these streaming and download services every day as agreements expire.

Quote:

Rumors are the delay is because of a lack of studio's agreements.

Well, you know how rumors are. All we have are rumors of when the plan was supposed to launch. All we have are rumors that they'll launch the service at all. Amazon has announced nothing and therefore speculating why they're late launching a service with no announced launch date is lunacy. They cannot be late until they announce a date. I suspect that they'll just add it without announcement.

Quote:

Sure they are (if the plan goes according to rumor). Right now Prime is $79 a year. After adding streaming it's $79 a year. That's free (to all existing prime subscribers). My guess is giving streaming to the prime subscribers does two things. It gives them a base to start with and allows to them to offer worthless content - since it's a freebie.

Again, was Netflix giving away their streaming service for 3 years??? Cost of my two-out-at-time-Netflix plan before they added Watch Instantly, about $16 (+8.75% CA sales tax), cost after they added Watch Instantly, about $16 (+8.75% CA sales tax). They added one or two dollars after that over a three year period. Amazon's purpose of adding this service to Prime is probably the same as Netflix's seemed to be: to increase the number of Prime members.

Those are numbers of people granting those ratings to titles; tons of titles have no rating whatsoever, so the numbers have very little to do with the count of titles. They could conceivable been numbers of people giving those rating to a set of 20 titles.

The reason Amazon and Netflix can seemingly "give" away their streaming services is due to the huge cost savings of shipping discs vs. streaming. It was Netflix who recently said their cost goes from $1 disc to $0.05 for a two-hour movie.